Friday, December 21, 2012

Hundreds of Families Flee MILF Attacks Upi Town

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Hundreds of civilians fled in terror when more than 200 fully armed separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members attacked yesterday a populated town and seized a Filipino-Chinese businesswoman in North Upi, Maguindanao province, officials here said.

However, the victim managed to escape as fighting broke out between the rebels and pursuing government forces, backed by civilian volunteers. At least five separatist rebels were reported killed and one captured.

Government forces believe they inflicted heavy casualties on the MILF force, forcing it to break up and withdraw in different directions to divide the attention of pursuing government troops. Two civilians, two soldiers and a civilian volunteer were seriously injured when heavy fighting erupted in North Upi, lasting more than two hours. Lt. Col. Fredesvindo Covarrubias, chief of the Civil Relations Group (CRG) for Mindanao, said the fighting broke out when the rebels, armed with B40 rocket launchers, swooped down on the poblacion.

Col. Covarrubias said the rebel group seized prominent Filipino-Chinese businesswoman So Kim Chew, 41, in front of her general merchandise store at about 9:30 a.m. yesterday. Alerted elements of the Philippine National Police and military troops backed by elements of the 38th CAFGU company immediately launched pursuit operations. Covarrubias said Chew saw a chance, dashed to freedom and was rescued by the authorities two hours later. The suspects were later reinforced by 200 more fully armed comrades who were waiting on the border of Noro Upi Village, triggering more heavy fighting that sent many civilians fleeing their homes to avoid being caught in the crossfire. "The combined forces successfully repulsed the rebels," Covarrubias said as pursuit operations continued. The troops captured one of the rebels and recovered one M16 Armalite rifle. As of press time, Covarrubias said sporadic firing continued as the rebels were monitored moving towards the foot of Mt. Daguma near Camp Omar, an MILF lair that the government had seized.